Introduction

10.1163/ej.9789004151390.i-273.5

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Chapter Summary

This introductory chapter describes that research on Ibn Kammūna started near the end of the 19th century, and the point of departure for the first generation of scholars was a codex, held in the Berlin State Library, containing his Tanqῑḥ al-abḥāth. His position towards Judaism and Islam as far as his personal convictions are concerned is, on the basis of his Tanqῑḥ, beyond doubt. Contemporary Iranian scholars have concentrated on Kammūna's philosophical writings and edited some of his works in this field. In his Tanqῑḥ, Kammūna discussed the arguments for and against Judaism, Christianity and Islam as known from the earlier polemical literature. As a philosopher, Kammūna was a follower of Ibn Sῑnā. Kammūna was one of the most popular and influential philosophers of the Eastern lands of Islam both during his lifetime and in the decades following his death.